


Melody

by Rehearsal_Dweller



Series: The Speed of Sound [2]
Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, RIDICULOUSLY HUGE FIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF CAMP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-18
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-26 04:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2638787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/pseuds/Rehearsal_Dweller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All couples fight.<br/>Most have the good sense not to do it in public.</p><p>(the principle part in a harmonic composition)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Melody

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first of a pair of fics telling the same story in opposing POVs. Actually, strictly speaking, it's two stories in four POVs, but you get the idea.

_(melody)_

Later, Nico would never quite be able to articulate how it all started.

It didn’t really matter anyway, not really.

What mattered was that right now he was standing four feet away from William Alphonse Solace, shouting himself hoarse.

“ – and it always comes back to _Jason fucking Grace_ with you, doesn’t it?” Will said in a low, angry voice. Will Solace didn’t yell.

This was probably worse.

“So what?” snapped Nico. “He’s my best friend.”

“ _So_ , you’re half in love with him! Don’t think I haven’t noticed,” said Will.

“I am _not_ ,” Nico replied. “You’re just too insecure to tell the difference!”

“ _Insecure_?” repeated Will. “ _I’m_ insecure? Are you kidding me?” He took a half step toward Nico. “This from _you_ , who needs constant reassurance that I haven’t suddenly decided I’m terrified of you? Hell, you’re barely confident in your relationship with precious _Jason_ , and he’s your so-called best friend. But, of course, _I’m_ the insecure one, aren’t I?”

If Nico froze, horrified, for a fraction of a second, nobody would know but him. And Will, he supposed, but at this point there wasn’t much that Will could do to embarrass Nico further. “I can’t believe you.”

“Of course you can’t,” said Will.

“Don’t act all superior,” Nico said. “ _Don’t_. You want to play that game? I’m your boyfriend, and you’ve hardly let me out of your sight on weekends all year. I know all your little secrets too.”

“Don’t.”

“Like how, no matter how much you go on about how much you love being a healer, you’re ashamed that you’re _completely_ tone-deaf,” Nico said, glaring, “and that your 9-year-old sister is a better archer than you.”

“Shut up.”

“You started it.”

“Oh, don’t be a child.”

Nico heard someone run past him, but didn’t turn to check who it was. He was too busy attempting to indefinitely sustain very angry eye contact with a certain nearly 17-year-old.

“Honestly I’m surprised you haven’t run away yet,” said Will. “Isn’t that what you usually do when you get uncomfortable?”

“I’ve been here for _months_ ,” Nico replied. “Not that you’d notice, since you’ve been clinging so tight you haven’t given me a chance to stay without you holding on.”

“Forgive me for not wanting to watch you drop out of my life again!” Will said, his carefully calm façade _finally_ starting to crumble.

“I didn’t _want to_ until about ten minutes ago!”

“You’ve been lying to me!”

“I can’t always tell you everything, you _know that!_ ”

“Keeping secrets –“

“It’s not my fault you’re nosy.”

“ – and you’re still in love with Percy Jackson!”

Nico couldn’t help laughing. “You’re _joking_. First Jason, now Percy! Are you really that threatened by my friends? Because I’m not sure how much longer we’ll last if you don’t trust me –“

“ – _trust you?”_ Will took another step toward him. “You think I don’t –“

Nico moved forward, too. “Well it sure seems that –“

“I’ll have you know – “ Another step.

“Stop being so –“ Another step.

“SHUT _UP_!” shouted another voice entirely, just as its owner shoved Nico and Will apart. Abby Hill, dressed in pyjama pants and a too-big sweatshirt that was probably Will’s, stood between them with her arms out to her sides. She had one hand pressed flat against Nico’s chest and the other caught up tightly in Will’s shirt. The unspoken message was clear: she knew which way they’d move if she did, and Nico sure as Hades wasn’t the one about to run away.

“Don’t move, either of you, or you’ll regret it. I don’t know what has gotten into you, and frankly I don’t care. I get that you’re a couple now and couples fight, you’re entitled to that. But you’re teenagers, not toddlers. You’re both perfectly capable of handling disagreements without _shouting each other down in the middle of camp!_ ” Her fingernails dug into Nico’s chest for a moment, but she relaxed her hand again. “Usually I’d leave you to your arguing – oh, hells, I’d probably arm you and send you off to the arena to fight it out; I’m not your relationship counsellor – but you’ve upset Aisling, which officially makes this ridiculous fight my business.”

“What?” said Will.

“Aisling?” Nico repeated.

Abby’s eyes widened. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You didn’t even _notice_? Whatever you said while she was here sent Aisling running into the Athena cabin in tears. Some big brothers you are.”

“I –“ Will started.

“We didn’t –“

“Shut _up_ ,” snapped Abby. “In a minute, I’m going to let go of you. You are each going to walk back to your cabins, at which point you’re both grounded until you’re capable of speaking to each other calmly, maturely, and privately. No rec time.” Her eyes fell on Nico. “Any activities you would usually do with Apollo cabin will now be with Athena until further notice.”

“You don’t have the authority to ground us,” Will said. “We both outrank you.”

Abby shifted her angry gaze to her stepbrother. “I’m your sister and I’m three months older than you.  If you two are going to act like children, I will treat you like children. Now go, both of you.”

She dropped her arms.

Nico took a step back and turned around. He walked back toward his cabin, and it took a truly astounding amount of self-control not to break into a run. Now that he wasn’t staring Will down, he felt like his head had been screwed back on straight again.

He fell face-first onto his bed, wondering where this evening had gone wrong.

\--

_(counterpoint)_

When Abby got back to Athena cabin, she found her siblings crowded around their (fortunately no longer sobbing) little guest. The distraught nine-year-old was sitting cross-legged on her friend Rosalind’s bed, with a blanket of Annabeth’s wrapped around her shoulders.

“Hey, Asha,” Abby greeted, sitting carefully on the edge of the bed. “They’ve stopped fighting. I grounded them.”

“Good,” Aisling said angrily. “They’re being stupid.”

“Seconded,” agreed Abby. “Now, I have one other thing I need to do, but before I go handle that, I thought we ought to have a chat. Are you feeling up to going back to Apollo cabin for the night?”

Aisling shrugged. “Yeah, whatever.”

“You don’t have to,” Abby said, after glancing at Annabeth for confirmation.

“Is that allowed?”

“Not exactly,” Annabeth admitted, “but we won’t tell if you don’t.”

“I’ll stay then,” said Aisling, nodding.

Abby brushed a stray bit of hair over Aisling’s ear, then kissed her forehead. “Good. I’ll be back before lights out. Don’t cause too much trouble with Roz.”

\--

“Heya, sweets.”

It wasn’t often that anyone surprised Nico di Angelo, so when Abby saw him jump and knock his head on the bedframe, she knew that this was a moment to file away in her memory forever.

“Abby,” Nico said after rolling over to look at her. “What are you doing here?”

“Just wanted a chat, is all,” Abby said casually, taking a few steps into the room and kicking the door shut behind her.

“About Will,” Nico guessed, his tone dull.

“About Will,” agreed Abby, “and other things, too. Like ships and shoes and sealing wax…”

“Abigail.”

“Right.” She sat down on the bed across from Nico’s. “What was the fight about?”

“Why should I tell you? You’ll just side with him.”

“Nico, Nico, Nico,” Abby said, shaking her head. “I’m his sister. I know better than anyone not to defend him blindly.”

“I can respect that,” replied Nico. He sat up and leaned against the wall. “I wish I knew what started it –“

“Did Will pick a fight or did you?”

“What?  
“Come on, sweets, let’s go back to kindergarten. Whose fault was it?”

“Uh, Will’s? I think?”

Abby laughed, sort of. “No kidding.”

“What do you mean?” Nico asked, frowning.

“You were sitting with team Percy-Annabeth. Percabeth?” She paused. “Whatever. And Percy and Annabeth were being – well, you know. Them. It bothers Will more than he lets on.”

“It bothers _Will_?” Nico repeated sceptically.

“Oh, yeah,” Abby replied. “Now, I’m telling you this in strict confidence, step-sister to boyfriend, alright?”

“Yeah, alright,” said Nico.

“Until last summer, Apollo kids dreamed in potential futures,” Abby told him. “Only they never dream about themselves, their own futures, and they had a cabin-wide pact to never to share people’s potential futures with them.” She picked at a hole in the knee of her leggings. “Will used to dream about yours a lot.”

“My – my future?” Nico replied.

“Potential futures. Not the track you’re on now, never that, because he _couldn’t dream about himself,”_ Abby said, placing careful and frustrated stress on the last four words. “Lots of them involve you living a long, lovely life somehow involved with Jason Grace – platonically or romantically – or with Percy and Annabeth.”

“Percy _and_ Annabeth?”

“Yeah, long story. Remind me to tell you sometime,” Abby said. She waved a hand. “That’s beside the point entirely. Point is, he’s kind of insecure about it. I can see why he picked a fight.”

Nico shot her a Look. “You said you weren’t going to side with him.”

“I’m not, sweets,” said Abby. “I’m explaining his behaviour. You can’t make an informed decision about forgiving him if you don’t actually understand what he did.”

“That’s – “ Nico paused, then threw himself back onto the mattress, “a really good point.”

“Athena kid. Older sister. It’s an occupational hazard.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“I’m still mad at him,” Nico said to the ceiling.

“As well you should be. I didn’t come here to apologise for him. That’s his job,” replied Abby.

“He said…”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Abby replied when Nico trailed off.

Nico shook his head. “He just kept poking at my insecurities. Even after all this time at Camp, I’m never quite sure where I stand with people, and he –“

“Healers always know how to hurt people the worst,” said Abby. She’d been on the wrong side of Will’s quiet fury before, not that he got angry often. “We just like to think they know better.”

She stood up. “It’s almost lights out, I should go.” She started to walk toward the door, but stopped and turned on the balls of her feet. “And, uh, I can’t speak to where you stand with Will – that’s kind of the nature of teenage relationships – but whether you and he make up or not, I’ll stay your friend.”

“Why?” Nico asked. “You barely know me. And you’re Will’s sister, anyway.”

“William Solace does not define my friendships. And I know you pretty well by now, I’d say.” She smiled. “See you in the morning.”

“Abby?” Nico said, more into his pillow than actually to her.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”


End file.
